1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method and a recording medium having a computer program recorded therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional image processing is known for converting data of a photographic image designated by a user into data of a painterly rendering image such as a water painting, oil painting, color drawing, and/or a pastel drawing. Some image processing needs several minutes to convert the photographic image into a painterly rendering image. Therefore, a notice of “please, wait for a while” or an icon of an hourglass is displayed on a displaying screen to tell the user of the progress of the converting process, while the image processing is going on. In the case that the data size of the photographic image is large, a problem arises that the user is required to wait for a long time and feels frustration until the photographic image is converted into a painterly rendering image. Even though the data of a painterly rendering image has been obtained after the user waits for a long time, since the whole image converting process has done without receiving any operation by the user, sometimes the user cannot have any attachment for the resultant painterly rendering image.
To solve the problems in the conventional image processing, U.S. Pat. No. 7,602,993 (Japanese Patent No. 2006-3603 A) has proposed a technique, in which an image is divided into two areas; one area of the image is processed; the processed image is combined with the image of the remaining area; and then the whole image is displayed. In the proposed technique, since only the data of the divided area from the original image is processed, a time required for the image processing is shorter than the case where the whole image is processed.
But in the technique disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,602,993, since the original image to be processed is divided into plural areas with a dividing border line, the resultant image includes the processed image divided with the border line, giving an uncomfortable feeling.